I went back to PetSmart and the $75 tank was one that comes with a
crappy hood and light as well. So that's why the price seemed so high.

I left the donated tank outside in the back yard for a while (while
thinking about what to do with it) and it smelled clean after a couple
of weeks of rain, sun and fresh air. I'm not ready to risk my fish in
it yet but we had a big rainstorm and I got a couple of inches of
rainwater in it so I filled it up with water, plants, snails and muck
from various collecting expeditions to the river and I am using it to
grow mosquito larvae and plants to feed the goldfish. Yes, I cover it
with a screen so the hatched mosquitoes can't get out and spread West
Nile Virus.

Judy